This program at the University of Georgia (UGA) trains graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to become independent research scientists who study parasitic diseases in the context of global health. The program's research seeks fundamental insights into protozoan and helminth parasites and their interaction with their mammalian hosts and invertebrate vectors. It combines cutting-edge bench and field science with perspectives on the global challenges and opportunities for the control and elimination of parasitic diseases. These perspectives are grounded in firsthand experience by trainers and collaborators around the world. Every year protozoan and helminth parasitic diseases of humans are responsible for more than a million deaths, many millions more cases of severe morbidity, and hundreds of millions of cases of subtle morbidity due to chronic infections. UGA is uniquely positioned as a training ground for the next generation of parasitology/tropical diseases researchers. UGA is home to perhaps the largest number of parasitology research laboratories in the US that collectively cover the full gamut of parasitic diseases. We believe tha the breadth and culture of our program instills trainees with the ability to translate basic scientfic findings into tool development and the implementation of interventions, and fosters their ability to identify and formulate a fundamental research question out of the context of parasitic disease itself. The program has further grown and flourished. Significant institutional commitment for breadth-enhancing capstone experiences, a match for trainee lines, a reorganized innovative graduate recruitment umbrella, and new diversity initiatives further strengthen this highly successful training program.